Buy Chinese!

Forbes likes Asian art, especially Chinese works of art like this rare vase that has a remarkably low estimate at Christie’s:

One example of an extraordinary piece with an almost laughably low estimate: a Yongzheng-period (1723-1735) porcelain vase that is only the second of its kind known to exist. The vase’s twin is in a public collection in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Intricately decorated, the piece has a curvy, ribbed, globe-shaped body and trumpeted opening. Christie’s, which is including the vase in its March 18-19 auction of Chinese ceramics and works of art, has pegged its value at just $100,000-$150,000.

“When I saw this piece, I jumped out of my skin,” says Carol Conover, a Chinese art and antiquities dealer in New York. “I’ve never seen one of these out of captivity; I didn’t know there was one extant.” Conover, who ran the Chinese art department at Sotheby’s for 10 years and now serves as director of New York’s Kaikodo Gallery, says she thinks the vase “could conceivably make $2 million or $3 million.”

Why would Christie’s estimate the piece at a fraction of that amount? Christie’s specialist Joe-Hynn Yang admits he’s employing a tool often used by auction houses to woo bidders in a down market. “It’s a come-hither estimate,” says Yang.